mrlevin

Stephane is F&B on Grandeur and is excellent and easy to talk to; I would definitely bring your concerns directly to him. Afterwards, when you go in Compass Rose you will find that they print a small piece of paper after you give them your cabin number and give it to waiter. I would ask the waiter for the piece of paper after he has read it and see that the issues that you reported have been passed on to the dining room staff. marc

The credit comes right off of the booking cost. Just a cheaper cruise.

Tomorrow's stream is tape delayed; with all the video released really no reason to watch tomorrow.

In 2002 we were on the Mariner Caribbean right before the 2003 World Cruise. New Year's Day announcement was made that they needed to do repairs on one of the pods so our itinerary was being changed to allow 48 hours alongside in Key West for repairs. We were very well compensated and basically just lost a sea day. In 2010 we boarded Voyager in Athens, we were told that we would be leaving late due to German engineers en route to address a pod issue; the next morning we were still at the dock. At 9am Captain came on speaker and started out "I regret to inform you that this cruise has been canceled." Again, we were very well compensated. Tomorrow we board the Mariner for a bucket list Amazon cruise. My stomach is turning as I am fearful we will all be called into the theater after we have left Miami to be informed that the cruise has been changed to allow time in Key West (or some other port) for repairs prior to the World Cruise; again. I know infinitesimal chance that this will happen but I will be thinking about it until we are heading south. Marc

I just checked into the JW Marriott for three nights prior to Mariner cruise; hotel seems pretty good and lots of dining and shopping options within a few blocks.

Liberty

Four times at P7 for lunch and once at Chartreuse; most times we got there early. However, even when we arrived at 1215 we were seated promptly and got a table we enjoyed and a meal that was fantastic. Please do not go to P7 or Chartreuse at lunch and expect to get out in 45 minutes; it is sometimes slow but always fantastic. Grandeur has been absolutely wonderful!. Marc

I saw somebody walk off Grandeur today with their tote bag; why? Can you also take your cashmere blanket or binoculars or illy coffee maker home with you?

No Christmas decorations on Grandeur until 14 December; Miami doesn’t want any Christmas decorations in any of the “Christening” photos.

Jim, thanks for the clarification. When I exited the men’s route to jacuzzis I asked the spa employee standing there if the jacuzzis were clothing optional; he said yes. He probably thought I was asking about the saunas.

After four days some initial impressions. I think the major improvements are the automatic doors and removing of the lights on each of the tables in the theater; unfortunately the tables still are not movable. The major, to me, setbacks are in La Veranda. They have removed a number of two tops so hard for me to get an inside table unless I go right when they open. Also, it is almost impossible to get lettuce from the salad bar. Only other annoyance is that light above puzzles is tied into Meridian Lounge dimmer switch so impossible to work on puzzle at night; I think this should be fixed soon. As others have reported the infinity pool has been replaced by three clothing optional jacuzzis. Without the infinity pool I don’t know why they just couldn’t reinstall horizon lounge. overall trip is fantastic with wonderful food and a well trained crew. marc

Elevators identical to Splendor; 5-11 aft and 3-14 forward.

We are onboard now; although there are improvements from the Splendor there are also, to me, significant setbacks; given the CC editing policy (limited time to correct posts) I will refrain from posting any comments until I am sure of my feelings. Marc

Through baggage drop off, up the stairs, and through security only to be told checkin starts at 1130.

Jim, does it look like they are ready for embarkation or are past passengers still offloading? marc

At 0900?

Since I didn’t get an answer to my specific question, I will provide my exact experience in case someone searches in the future. At exactly 11am, the prescribed time, a water taxi along with a representative from the ground operator arrived at our hotel. We and our bags were quickly shuttled via water taxi to a parking area near the cruise terminal. The ground operator then walked us over to our driver who loaded our bags into a nice van. A little less than two hours later we and our bags arrived at our Trieste hotel. Extremely easy and stress free.

Any idea when ship will be ready for embarkation?

What difference do sculptures make? I want service, food, accommodations. Forget any fancy eggs unless I can eat them. Grandeur now expected to arrive in Trieste 5am local time on the 18th.

Grandeur has left Ancona and is en route Dubrovnik schedulled to arrive tomorrow morning.

It is amazing that the President of the Company does not know what day Navigator sailed on. 🙃

Has anyone had any problems with Regent picking them up at their hotel via water taxi? For transfers to Trieste, did they transfer you to a vehicle at Piazzale Roma? thanks, Marc

Just got our first regent provided air for next year’s grand arctic. Credit would have been $1700 and we paid $249 per person to fly to and from Austin. Nonstop to JFK in first class on delta. One stop BCN-JFK-AUS on American in business and first. Fantastic flights with no up charge. Seats assigned. I put in our FF numbers and requested notification of changes. This is easy. I am a happy camper. Marc

A lot of reasons and you can find multiple threads. Primary reason is Horizon Lounge on Mariner and Voyager and the size of the Navigator (having a cabin on deck 6 of navigator is absolutely fantastic). Explorer has many design flaws that were partially corrected on Splendor.

I have found teams just come together naturally. Last cruise we found that a couple gals on our team just stopped showing up so we found replacements. Last year on a 94 day cruise we had the same team every day; 3, 4, 5, or 6 would show up but I don’t like to bring someone on just for a day; I guess a quirk of mine. I pretty much have given up bridge so I can be at trivia early. I get there one to two hours early to set up chairs and will either read the newspaper or study trivia. I guess we are all different. Marc PS two teammates from a 2017 cruise will be on grandeur inaugural and I hope they will still let me be on their team.